Monthly Archives: March 2012

NYC Department of Education Loses Its F-cking Mind

Posted on March 28, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

And that is the polite way of putting it. According to CBSNewYork, New York City’s Department of Education has a list of words it would like to remove from tests (boldface mine): Fearing that certain words and topics can make … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Evolution, Fucking Morons | 7 Comments

Links 3/27/12

Posted on March 27, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Every scientist’s worst nightmare Debating Evolution vs Yogurt (funny video) More On Court Ordering FDA Hearings on Farm Antibiotics Activists: Casual antibiotic use, inadequate treatment fuel drug-resistant TB in India Other: The higher education bubble (I … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 3/27/12

Will This Make the Conservative Right Explode? Federal Judge Opposes Delegation of Government Authority to Religious Organization

Posted on March 27, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

From Universal Hub, we read the following: A federal judge in Boston yesterday ruled a federal contract with a Catholic charity to administer a program to aid people brought here as prostitutes violates the First Amendment because the charity ordered … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties | Comments Off on Will This Make the Conservative Right Explode? Federal Judge Opposes Delegation of Government Authority to Religious Organization

Are Scientists Really That Disengaged?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

A post at Jezebel, decrying the lack of engagement by scientists on the global warming front, has been making the rounds on the internets. Here’s the key beef (boldface mine): Here’s the problem: Americans know next to nothing about science, … Continue reading →

Posted in News Media | 3 Comments

Links 3/26/12

Posted on March 26, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Beetle Diversity in Costa Rica A Fun DIY Science Goodie: Proof Yourself against Sensationalized Stats How to Write Like a Scientist (funny) The Species in the Feces Gut microbial ‘enterotypes’ become less clear-cut Breaking News: Judge … Continue reading →

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The Congressional Retirement Plan Is Very Lucrative

Posted on March 26, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Regular readers will be familiar with what I call the Congressional Retirement Plan™ (emphasis original): It’s simple: it’s about life after politics. One of the dirty secrets about many, if not most, congressmen and senators is that they like Washington, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on The Congressional Retirement Plan Is Very Lucrative

When the Higher Education Monopoly Crumbles, How Will Scholarship Survive?

Posted on March 26, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Kevin Carey writes about the potential of massive changes in the university landscape (boldface mine): Many factors explain the endurance of higher education institutions—the ascent of the knowledge economy, their crucial role in upper-middle class acculturation, our peculiar national enthusiasm … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Comments Off on When the Higher Education Monopoly Crumbles, How Will Scholarship Survive?

Links 3/25/12

Posted on March 25, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Do we need copyright? The Sound of Solitude Coyotes in New York City: A Bonus? Building a Monastery the Medieval Way Other: Ezra Klein’s unforgettable portrait! Did the Krugman insurgency fail? Cat Survives 19-Story Fall From … Continue reading →

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eCommerce, 1930s Style

Posted on March 25, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

While we treat delivery-focused eCommerce like online food delivery* as something novel, it’s actually not new. Delivery of groceries was actually standard for many Americans a few generations ago: (from the West End Museum, Boston, MA) The more things change…. … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Economics, Internet, Museums etc. | Comments Off on eCommerce, 1930s Style

During the Bush Presidency, We Paid People to Do Stuff…And It Worked!

Posted on March 25, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Leaving aside the idiotic conservative trope that “government jobs aren’t real jobs”–your local fireman or police officer might be surprised to learn that–the conservative opposition to reducing unemployment by paying people to do stuff that needs doing has been incredibly … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Economics, Fucking Morons, Jobs | 1 Comment